Captain Mateen said, “Today’s milestone marks the delivery of the vessel by a team that has every rank filled by Bruneians. This is the culmination of the Bruneianisation project that started well over a decade ago.”

The maiden voyage from South Korea to Brunei for AMADI was under the command of Captain Mateen on July 15 and arrived in Brunei Darussalam on July 23.

The captain said the AMADI performed to expectations.

The Dual Fuel Diesel electric engine-powered vessel measures to 154,800m3, which is bigger than Arkat/Amali by 7,800m3 and the length of the ship is equivalent to three football pitches.

“We have internet access, a dedicated prayer room and wudhu area. Halal food is served throughout the Brunei Gas Carriers fleet.

“The impact of the Local Business Development programme initiated by the Energy Department at the Prime Minister’s Office can be felt throughout the oil and gas industry.”

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

IN THE early 1990s when Hj Wahab Jumat was at his peak as a pemukun providing traditional entertainment at weddings, he at one time earned almost $2,000 in one month.

“Every week we would be invited to perform at a wedding. There were so many requests we had to decline sometimes,” he says.

That was back in the day when memukun, a form of entertainment that involves the exchange of poems between a male and a female performer, was still popular in Brunei.

These days, 74-year-old veteran pemukun Hj Wahab no longer gets as many invitations and when he does, it is normally to perform at a cultural event organised by a government agency.

The pemukun, usually the elderly people who exchange pantun poems while traditional music is being played, have been pushed to extinction by modern-day forms of entertainment, including karaoke sessions at weddings.

It is not an easy feat as those exchanging pantun poems have to be spontaneous and able to think fast, and come up with poems that suit the atmosphere of the event. It can be challenging, Hj Wahab says.

“While listening to the other pemukun’s poem, you must already think of a comeback. If you are unable to reply with your own poem it would disrupt the whole performance.”

He said performers must also be familiar with their surroundings, and understand the nature of event where they perform.

Hj Wahab says he began performing at memukun in the early 1980s, and has been active in performing at memukun sessions for about 30 years. Having wit and mental sharpness are abilities pemukun must have in order to deliver an entertaining performance. He says he has no secrets as to how he keeps mentally prepared for each performance.

“I wake up early every day and I perform the Subuh prayers, and after that I make doa(supplication) to Allah SWT so that he will always bless me with good health.”

Apart from prayers, Hj Wahab says he also tries to lead a healthy lifestyle by controlling his food intake and watching what he eats to prevent high cholesterol and diabetes.

“I also do light exercises in the morning. I walk around the compound of my house or do some gardening.”

The memukun performance is slowly disappearing especially at weddings. Other forms of entertainment are taking over, such as karaoke, Hj Wahab says.

Even though sometimes people choose to have a traditional form of entertainment at weddings, it is usually a gulingtangan or traditional musical performance, he adds.

And the performers … only a few veteran pemukun get to perform when the rare opportunity comes.

Memukun is more than just entertainment. It is a Malay traditional and cultural heritage. Through art forms such as memukun, “we could preserve part of our culture, for example, the Malay language”, says Hj Wahab.

“If there is no one to continue the art of memukun, it will disappear.”

In his speech during the dinner, the prime minister said with this year’s theme, ‘Our People, Our Community, Our Vision’, the focus is on the creation of a ‘people-centred ASEAN’ to translate that into a tangible reality.

“A people-centred ASEAN is about the realisation of our peoples’ dreams and aspirations – for more effective and responsive governance; for higher standards of living; for strengthened environmental protection; for further empowerment of women and youth; and greater opportunities for all.”

He went on to say that over the years, governments of ASEAN member countries have signed agreements and treaties, and issued communiques, statements and declarations, and that an infrastructure for regional integration has been created.

“I am convinced that ASEAN regional integration can only truly advance once our peoples are fully involved in the process, and invested in its outcome. They must feel that they are not just part of ASEAN; but that they are ASEAN, and its future is their future,” said the prime minister.

Today marks the beginning of the 26th ASEAN Summit, which will begin with its opening ceremony, followed by the summit’s plenary session.

Realising economic integration and the South China Sea territorial dispute are expected to be discussed during the meetings.

Upon arrival, His Majesty and Her Majesty were greeted by Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chief of Protocol Dato’ Kamilan Maksom and Chief of Ceremony and Conference Secretariat Datuk Wan Hamidah Wan Ibrahim.

Before proceeding into the banquet hall, Their Majesties and ASEAN leaders were greeted by the Malaysian prime minister and his spouse, before proceeding to take a group photo.

Monday, April 27, 2015

THE old market building along Jalan McKerron of Kuala Belait under the jurisdiction of Kuala Belait-Seria Municipal Department has got a facelift with new painting which highlights a more attractive theme.

The weekly Night Market has been ongoing at the ground floor of the building every weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) since September 24, 2011.

Various food items are available at the market such as cakes, fried noodles, soto, burger, nasi katok, and grilled food among others.

During the revamp, repair works have also been done including cleaning of the area.

The Kuala Belait-Seria Municipal Department informed that it wishes to fulfill the public’s wish for more daily choices and will strive to support local entrepreneurs by providing appropriate places for them.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

TRADITIONAL instruments such as guriding, tangkong and gandang sadaman have lost their appeal among the younger generation, but veteran musician Hj Nayan Apong has not given up on them.

The 86-year-old from Kampung Kulapis reminisces how the sound of these instruments used to resonate in paddy fields across the sultanate.

The Kadayan Malays used to play them while they tended to their farms, Hj Nayan says. It’s a forgotten art, but he still enjoys playing them and crafting them by hand.

“I learned by looking at other people and because I was interested, I tried and slowly learned (how to play the instruments) myself.”

One of the earliest instruments he learned to play was the guriding. “I began playing the guridingwhen I was very young, in my early teens,” Hj Nayan says.

It is small and thin, a flat piece of wood not more than 10 inches long. It is made from the frond of the Bengkala palm tree. To play the guriding, the instrument is held horizontally and pressed against the lips. To create sound, the musician blows against the part held closest to the lips and use the free hand to pluck the projecting end of the instrument.

“In the old days, the guriding is played to wind down after clearing an area of land for planting paddy … It is commonly played together with the gandang sadaman,” says Hj Nayan. The gandang sadaman is another traditional musical instrument commonly played by the Kadayan people. It resembles a xylophone.

“The gandang sadaman was played as a means of entertainment when people were tending to the paddy fields.”

Older versions of the gandang sadaman were not portable as it used to be made by arranging pieces of wood next to each other and pressing them to the ground.

The name sadaman, Hj Nayan explains, is taken from the name of the wood used to make the instrument which comes from the Sadaman tree.

Another instrument Hj Nayan fondly talks about is the tangkung. It is usually played on its own without accompaniment from other instruments, he says. It resembles a tube with strings that are meant to be plucked. Its strings are thin pieces of bamboo skin carved out from the same piece of bamboo used for thetangkung’s body.

This bamboo instrument is one of the traditional musical instruments that Hj Nayan is able to make by hand. Making one tangkung takes him about a day. It can be sold for $50. However, he only makes them upon request. Among his clients include the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Occasionally he also indulges in crafting a guriding. “You need to be very delicate when making a guriding because the instrument can be broken easily. It takes about one day to finish making one guriding,” Hj Nayan says.

These days, due to poor eyesight, he rarely makes them.

Unfortunately, there are not many people who know how to make traditional musical instruments such as the guriding and tangkung. The few that Hj Nayan knows of are his friends and some have already passed away.

Hj Nayan says he does not know anyone else in Kampung Kulapis, who knows how to make the traditional musical instruments that musicians used to create melodies across paddy fields in the sultanate.

Inspirational Quotes

Pages

Note

I have noticed a number of comment entries asking me to email them back. Generally I do not keep track of the comments in the blog entries. For those who want to get in touch with me, please email me: admin(at)bruneiresources(dot)com. Thank you.

The Golden Warisan Volume 1 (Republished)

THE GOLDEN WARISAN

The Golden Warisan Volume 1 has been republished by Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka Brunei Darussalam. The book is currently available at all Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka libraries at the price of B$10 each.

Our Brunei Heritage

OUR BRUNEI HERITAGE

Rozan Yunos's 3rd book entitled "Our Brunei Heritage" is currently on sale in Brunei at Booker International; at Select Books in Singapore; and online at http://www.selectbooks.com.sg. This book is a compilation of 51 articles from the author's Brunei Times' Golden Legacy column for the year 2009. History teachers in Brunei are welcome to contact the author to get their free copies.

His two earlier books "The Golden Warisan Brunei Darussalam Volume 1 & Volume 2" containing almost 100 articles from his weekly column are also available in Brunei from Booker International and in Singapore from Select Books at 51, Armenian Street and online from http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/.

Copies are also available on loan from the British Library and the US Library of Congress as well as from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei.

The Golden Warisan Volume 1

The Golden Warisan Volume 2

Food for thought

Our lives begin to end the day we became silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King Jr.

Crude Oil Prices

Visitors

Say what?

I have one wish - all Bruneians be well informed so that everyone can make informed decisions. I try to bring information to the best of my ability within the constraints I faced in this blog since December 2005. These postings represent my personal thoughts and experiences. I hope you enjoyed them.